Instrument for the relief of itch under a plaster cast



June 28, 1955 K. U. KROHNE 2,711,731

INSTRUMENT FOR THE RELIEF OF ITCH UNDER A PLASTER CAST Filed Nov. 27, 195s l INVENTOR. Kurt U. Krohne AGENT INSTRUMENT FOR THE RELIEF OF ITCH UNDER A PLASTER CAST Kurt U. Krohne, North Bellmore, N. Y.

Application November 27, 1953, Serial No. 394,659

4 Claims. (Cl. 12S- 67) The instrument according to the present invention is specially adapted to relieve the itch experienced by patients under a plaster cast. This itch is at least parv,tially attributed to perspiration under the cast which is prevented from evaporating at the normal rate and causes itching skin irritations. It is a well known fact that this itch is a great discomfort to the patients. However, great care must be taken not to injure the patients skin and to comply with the sanitary requirements.

It is an object of the present invention to .provide an instrument for the relief of the itch on skin areas covered by a plaster cast.

lt is another object to provide an instrument which may be inserted between the skin and the plaster cast and which can be easily directed to any desired area of the skin under the cast.

It is still another object to provide an instrument having a smooth surface wherever contact with the patients skin is feasible to exclude any mechanical irritation of the skin.

It is a further object to provide an instrument having smooth projections on some of the surfaces in contact with the skin.

It is a still further object to provide an instrument which can be readily cleaned and sterilized by boiling.

The instrument according to my invention consists of a long, thin, resilient member or strip which carries a pad. It will be understood that I am using the term pad to designate a fiat rigid body of any desired circumference which is thicker and/ or wider than the resilient member. Although it may be thicker than the resilient member, this pad tits between the cast and the patients body. Such a pad may be provided on either or both ends of the resilient member. The pad is the portion of the instrument which is most effective in relieving the itch. It is provided with projections on either or both sides to increase its eifectiveness. These projections may be of any suitable size and shape and may be different on the two sides of the same pad and on two pads attached to the same member. However, great care must be taken to assure that the surfaces of the resilient member as well as of the pad are smooth wherever contact with the patients skin is feasible.

The resilient member is so thin as to easily t between the patients skin and the surrounding plaster cast. lt is resilient to readily follow the contours of the plaster cast or the patients body when inserted therebetween. It is long enough to enable any skin area under the cast to be reached.

My invention will be more fully described and explained in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a top View of an embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-section of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-section of a further embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged top view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 3;

2,711,731 Patented June 28, 1955 Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a still further embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-section of the embodiment shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a cross-section of another embodiment of my invention; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged cross-section of still another embodiment of my invention.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, 10 designates a long, thin, resilient member or strip which carries a pad 11. Two substantially at sections 12 and 13 form the hollow pad 11. The outer surface of the section 12 is provided with smooth projections 14 formed by two groups of substantially parallel grooves arranged at right angles to one another. The outer surface of the section 13 is provided with larger smooth projections 15.

The outwardly extending rim 17 of the section 13 is folded over the outwardly extending rim 16 of the section 12 except where the resilient member 10 enters the hollow pad 11. There a slot 18 is formed by the two rims for the insertion of the resilient member 10. A rivet 19 extends through the two sections 12 and 13 and through the member 1t), securely assembling the unit.

In a preferred method of manufacture, the sections 12 and 13 are stamped from polished stainless steel, the projections 14 and 15 die-pressed into the stamped sections, which are then assembled and the rim 17 of section 13 folded over as described. The resilient member 10, cut from a stainless steel band, is then inserted through the slot 18, and the rivet 19 provided. The assembly may then be welded or soldered at the adjacent edges of rims 16 and 17. A coating of chrome or any other desired suitable non-corrosive material may be applied.

Figs. 3 and 4 show the resilient member 20 and the pad 21. Pad 21 has a substantially narrow U-shaped cross-section. The area 22 is provided with smooth projections 23, whereas the opposing area 24 is smooth. The edges 2S of the pad 21 are welded or soldered together. The resilient member 2i) is inserted into the slot 26 of the pad 21 and soldered or welded in place.

The pad 21 may be made by stamping from a noncorrosive suitable material, die-pressing the smooth projections 23 and sharply bending at 27 to give a substantially narrow U-shaped cross-section.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, the resilient strip 30 carries a substantially boxshaped pad 31. The pad 31 consists of two substantially rectangular sections 32 and 33 having upstanding rims 36 and 35, respectively. The rim 35 extends over rim 36, whereby an overlapping edge is formed. The resilient member 39 extends through a slot 38 into the box-shaped pad 31. The two sections 32 and 33 and the thin, long, resilient member 39 are held together by a rivet 39.

The two sections 32 and 33 may be stamped from stainless steel or any other suitable non-corrosive material, the smooth projections 34 die-pressed, the sections 32 and 33 held together by welding or soldering at the overlapping edge formed by the rims 35 and 36.

Fig. 7 shows a long, thin, resilient strip 40 carrying two pads 41 and 44. The pads are formed by twice I bending the ends of the strip as at 42, 43 for pad 41 and at 45 and 46 for pad 44. The four surfaces of the two pads are provided with smooth projections 49. To center the pads 41 and 44 with respect to the strip 40, the strip is bent at 47 and 48.

In this embodiment, the strip and pads are made from one integral strip by bending it as illustrated. The bentover portions may be held in place by welding or soldering along adjacent edges.

The embodiment shown in Fig. 8 consists of a thin, long, resilient strip 5t) carrying a solid pad 51. The

pad 51 is provided with projections 52 and has a recess 53 for the reception of the end of strip 59.

The pad 51 may be produced by casting. it may be made from'aluminum and the strip Si) soldered or Welded into the recess 53. Alternatively, the pad may be of plastic and molded onto the resilient strip.

It will be understood that the foregoing examples are for illustrating purposes only and are not to be interpreted as limiting my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. Instrument for the relief of itch under a plaster cast, comprising two substantially flat sections with mutually engaging rims, said sections and rims forming a hollow body having a slot, at least one of said sections being provided with smooth projections= and a resilient strip extending through said slot into said hollow body.

2. Instrument for the relief o itch under a plaster cast, comprising two substantially at sections having overlapping rims, at least one of said sections being provided with smooth projections, said sections being welded together at their overlapping rims to form a box having a slot, a thin, long, resilient member extending through the slot into said box, and a rivet through said two sections and said member.

3. instrument for the relief of itch under a plaster cast, comprising a rst substantially rectangular section having rounded corners and a rim, a second substantially rectangular section having rounded corners and a rim, at least one section being provided with smooth projections, the rim of said second section being folded over the rim of said first section on three sides of said two sections, whereby said two sections form a hollow body, the rims on the remaining side arranged to form a slot, a long, thin, resilient member extending through the slot into the hollow body, and a rivet engaging said two sections and said member.

4. instrument for the relief of itch under a plaster cast, comprising a first substantially flat section provided with smooth projections and having an outwardly extending rim, a second substantially flat section provided with smooth projections different from those of the first section and having an outwardly extending rim folded back over the rim of said rst section, whereby two sections form a box, and a resilient strip secured to the box.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,267,039 Akin May 2l, 1918 2,079,728 Arnold May l1, 1937 2,253,910 Luenz Aug. 26, 1941 2,583,750 Runnels Ian. 29, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 232,054 Great Britain Apr. i6, 1925 544,044 France June 14, 1922 

